Mental Health in Kansas: Laws and Liabilities

Course Description: 

Law enforcement officers and first responders are responding with increasing frequency to situations involving one or more individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Even where such calls do not involve allegations of criminal conduct, these situations can quickly become dangerous for the individuals involved, officers and first responders, and bystanders and onlookers. Law enforcement officers need to know the circumstances under which they can take individuals experiencing a mental health crisis into protective custody, where they may take these individuals for care and services, and what protections they have against potential civil lawsuits and criminal charges. 

Core Competency: 

• Participants will develop procedural knowledge of federal, state and local laws as they pertain to the actions of law enforcement officers and the enforcement of those laws. 

Course Objectives 

• Articulate the circumstances under which individuals experiencing a mental health crisis may be taken into protective custody 
• Describe what a law enforcement officer may do with a person taken into protective custody 
• Understand the care and treatment process in Kansas and the conditions under which a person may be released from involuntary commitment at a facility 
• Discuss various actions and assistance that can be provided to a person experiencing a mental health crisis, and what legal protections exist for those who do 

Instructional Methods: 

• Lecture and guided discussion 
• Oral quizzes and exams 

Who Should Attend: 

• Law enforcement officers 

Course Requirements:

• 100% Attendance